Pliskova battles past Putintseva, Birrell upsets Kasatkina

Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell upset Daria Kasatkina in her homeland, while Karolina Pliskova ended 2018 with a victory.

Karolina Pliskova fought back from a set down to beat Yulia Putintseva on day one of the Brisbane International but Daria Kasatkina suffered a surprise first-round exit.

Former world number one Pliskova trailed 2-0 in the second set after losing the first, before rallying to beat Putintseva 4-6 6-3 6-4 at the Queensland Tennis Center on New Year’s Eve.

Pliskova, who will be coached by Rennae Stubbs and Conchita Martinez again this season, showed signs of rust in her first match of the year but served 11 aces and the 2017 champion broke the Kazakh four times to progress.

The fifth seed from the Czech Republic appeared to benefit from words of advice from Stubbs early in the second set as she sealed a meeting with Marie Bouzkova – who beat Sam Stosur in a match that was still going on when the clock struck midnight and ended in the early hours of 2019.